Florida lawmakers may have to tackle Internet cafes again

TALLAHASSEE — — Legislators moved swiftly last spring to shutter senior arcades and Internet cafes popping up all over the state.

But less than a year after they did that, they may have to go back to the drawing board because several businesses are reopening.

"These people are very sophisticated and the technology is very sophisticated, so it wouldn't surprise me if we had to go back and take a look at it," said state Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, who drafted the legislation last spring and is a key adviser to Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.

Internet cafe operators argued they were legal under the sweepstakes law that allowed, for example, McDonald's to run its popular Monopoly giveaways. At Internet cafes, players received "sweepstakes entries" for buying time to use the Internet, but the instantaneous sweepstakes results were portrayed as a slot machine. The typical wagers were 25 cents per play, and patrons could collect cash winnings at any time.

Senior arcades, in contrast, argued they were legal under the "Chuck E. Cheese" law, which awarded patrons for playing games of skill. At senior arcades, players had to hit a "stop" button on a machine. The minimum play was usually 8 cents, and the payouts were typically $25 or $50 gift cards from companies such as Publix or Visa.

The current law didn't enact an outright ban. Rather, it banned the business model by outlawing cash prizes or gift cards and the types of machines that Internet cafes and senior arcades used.

Most closed their doors immediately, but now some of those companies are reopening with retrofitted machines and are giving away prizes such as towels or cookware.

The state isn't tracking how many have reopened, though they are collecting anecdotal evidence.

About 40 senior arcades reopened over the summer. Additionally, Thrasher said 15 Internet cafes have sprouted up in Duval County.

Senior arcades, more popular in South Florida, have argued that they shouldn't have been caught up in the law that Thrasher sponsored to shut down Internet cafes. They view themselves as collateral damage.

Last March, a state and federal investigation into the group Allied Veterans, an Internet cafe operator, ended in dozens of indictments and the resignation of then-Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who previously served as a consultant to the group.

In turn, the House and Senate moved to outlaw Internet cafes, but also included a look at senior arcades. Arcade owners argued that they were not anything like Internet cafes and they provided safe entertainment for senior citizens.

But legislators disagreed and Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, who leads the Senate Gaming Committee, said they won't hesitate to look at them again if they are re-emerging.

"I'd say last year in session, we determined that gambling is illegal unless it's legal, and there was no provision for senior arcades," he said. "So we passed a bill to close them down. I think it's appropriate that staff take a look at it."

Michael Wolf, a lawyer for the Florida Arcade and Bingo Association, acknowledged that some businesses changed the model to comply with the new law, but that the changes made last spring "closed many legitimate and compliant businesses."

If legislators want to keep them closed down for good, they may have to keep coming back to the issue.

In North Carolina, the Legislature has been trying for six years to shutter Internet cafes or sweepstakes cafes. But the strip-mall casinos simply retool the technology or business model and reopen.

Thrasher said they may need to take a broader approach to keep Internet cafes and senior arcades from reopening in Florida.

But that will be part of a broader conversation that Richter's committee is having on the status of gambling in Florida.

Although legislators were resolute in outlawing Internet cafes and senior arcades, they do acknowledge many other forms of gambling in Florida, including horse and dog tracks, poker rooms, jai alai frontons, and slot machines at select casinos in South Florida.

Additionally, the state has a compact with the Seminole Tribe, which gives it the exclusive right to offer high-stakes card games like blackjack at its facilities as long as it gives the state a cut of the proceeds. The state earns about $200 million a year off of that compact.

Additionally, Las Vegas-style casinos would like to enter the Florida market and build luxury casino hotels in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.